Ai Weiwei accepts university post in Berlin

Ai Weiwei, the Chinese artist and activist who spent three months in detention
earlier this year, has accepted a guest professorship at Berlin University
of the Arts.

Dissident Chinese artist Ai Weiwei waves from the entrance of his studio in Beijing after being released on bail Photo: REUTERS

By Malcolm Moore, Shanghai

4:27AM BST 14 Jul 2011

If allowed to relocate to Berlin, Mr Ai, 54, would become the second Chinese artist in recent days to find refuge in the German capital.

Liao Yiwu, the 53-year-old author of The Corpse Walker: Real Life Stories: China from the Bottom Up, arrived in Berlin last week, via Warsaw and Hanoi.

It seems unlikely, however, that Mr Ai will be allowed to take up his post in Germany in the near-term. Speaking from his studio in Beijing, he said that he had accepted the position when it was offered two months ago, but that the conditions of his release from prison at the end of June stipulate he has to remain in the Chinese capital.

"I do not think I can go there for one year, until June 22 next year," he said. "I am restricted to Beijing during this period. After the year passes, I am not sure what will happen. I have accepted the position, but I do not know if I will be able to go. I am not allowed to go anywhere else in China at the moment either."

Mr Ai was "disappeared" by Chinese officials in April and held in a secret location in a move that many saw as punishment for being a boisterously outspoken critic of the Communist party. Eventually, the Chinese government said Mr Ai was under investigation for tax evasion.

After significant political pressure from foreign governments, Mr Ai was released, noticeably thinner and quieter, but told to pay $1.8 million in back taxes and fines.

Mr Ai declined to comment on his current situation, but said: "I do have some freedom. I can move around and walk in Beijing as long as I let the people monitoring me know in advance."

The president of the Berlin University of the Arts, Martin Rennert, said he was optimistic that Mr Ai would be allowed to take up the post. "We of course also interpret the acceptance as a positive signal as far as his present situation is concerned, and are confident that Ai Weiwei will start working at our university in the near future," Mr Rennert said in a statement posted on the university's Web site.

Mr Liao was denied an exit visa to leave China 17 times and repeatedly pulled off planes and trains by the police, but managed to slip across the border to Vietnam before fleeing. He said he was "ecstatic" at his escape.